Global Engagement

2013 Academic Affairs Annual Report

We know that every college graduate needs a global perspective to be well educated, which is why we continued to provide increased opportunities for students to broaden their outlook in 2012-13.

An International Destination

We are proud of our diversity, which adds tremendous richness and helps make CSULB special. In 2012-13 CSULB served more than 6,350 students in international education programs and was ranked second among master’s degree institutions for the number of international students enrolled, according to a report from the Institute of International Education listed in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

More than 3,960 international students applied to CSULB for Fall 2012 and Spring 2013, a 13 percent increase from the previous year.

The American Language Institute served more than 1,140 students in Intensive English Programs.

The College of Continuing and Professional Education’s International Training Programs office (ITP) hosted 2,300 foreign nationals in professional and academic training programs.

Expanding our International Reach

In 2012-13 we worked to expand international programs abroad and make it easier for faculty and students to make global connections on campus:

The Center for International Education launched an online searchable database, making it easier for CSULB students to find short- and long-term study abroad programs and for international students to apply to CSULB.

A new Global Studies Institute was created at CSULB to help link international education efforts around the campus and facilitate college and department internationalization initiatives.

CSULB became one of 14 U.S. campuses selected to take part in a new program by the Institute of International Education (IIE) that is expanding academic partnerships with Brazil and allowing the university to participate in a year-long series of training activities to help implement and sustain partnerships with institutions in Brazil.

CSULB was certified as a training partner with the State Administration of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, advancing the university's reputation in China and furthering the growth of international programs on campus.

Interim Provost David Dowell received a Fulbright award to travel to Germany with a delegation of chief finanicial officers from 15 U.S. higher education institutions. The delegation compared learning management at American and German universities and identified best practices in both systems.

Two new short-term programs – Sport Management and Sport Psychology – were created in Japan.

Several alumni from the College of Liberal Arts received Fulbright Awards:

Alumnus Alex Olson, who earned his degree in Spanish, was selected for a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Scholarship, allowing him to teach English and conduct research in Russia this year.

Sophia Clark, who received her master’s degree in German studies, received a Fulbright U.S. Student Award to conduct research in Vienna, Austria.

History alumnus Antonio Mendoza was awarded both a Fulbright Award for 2013-14 and a Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study Chinese during the summer.

CSULB students worked with local school children in Tanzania.

Anne D'Zmura (Theatre Arts) and her students traveled to Tanzania to work with local students on issue-driven arts projects and, in collaboration with Bridging the Gap Africa, help build a much-needed suspension bridge for the community. With a grant from the CSULB's Center for Community Engagement, D’Zmura and her team purchased two computers for teachers at Ayalagaya Secondary School and trained them to use the technology to enhance their educational resources. Jennifer Lares, a graduate student in Education Technology, is doing her thesis on this part of the project. She and D’Zmura worked with Leslie Kennedy, Director of Instructional Technology Support Services, to set up a BeachBoard account so that CSULB teachers and students can work with their Tanzanian counterparts in the years to come.

Students in the accelerated MBA program traveled to Italy and developed a plan to market Terri Margaritelli Winery north of Rome, with a focus on sustainability. The project was part of the Sustainability and Business Organization course and the International Marketing course led by Dr. Ingrid Martin (Marketing), Dr. Wade Martin (Economics), Dr. Rod Smith (Accounting) and Dr. David Horne (Graduate Director).

Dr. Susan Carlile (English) spent a year in the United Kingdom as part of her one-year National Endowment for the Humanities research fellowship to write a critical biography titled Charlotte Lennox: A Powerful Mind.

Nine students, led by Dr. Beverly Booker (Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling), engaged in career counseling and held workshops on positive identity development, public speaking, and storytelling during an Alternative Spring Break trip to Ghana. They also started a Collaborative Library Literacy Project, filling more than 13 suitcases with over 150 books and school supplies.

Alumni Cameron Lombardo and Christopher Rohar taught English in Long Beach’s Sister City of Yokkaichi, Japan as Yokkaichi English Fellows.

Andrea Rodriguez

Andrea Rodriguez, a Chinese studies major, spent the year studying abroad at the National Taiwan University in Taipei, thanks to a $4,000 Wang Family Scholarship.

LeeAnne Langton (English) was named an English Language Fellow, allowing her to train English teachers and develop curriculum at St. Augustine University in the East African country of Tanzania.

Alumni Lauren Brooks and Curtis Maughan received Los Angeles German Consulate Teaching Awards to teach German at the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Bita Ghafoori (Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling) was selected as a candidate on the Fulbright Specialist Roster, making it possible for her to participate in short-term collaborative projects at institutions in more than 100 countries.

Dr. Bill Jeynes (Teacher Education) gave a speech and PowerPoint presentation at Oxford University in England entitled, “Two Crucial Issues: Reducing the Achievement Gap and Character Education,” discussing the persistence of both the achievement gap and school violence in the United States and across much of the world.

Dr. Alexandra Jaffe (Linguistics and Anthropology) spent the year in Corsica as part of an international team of scholars studying “Peripheral Multilingualisms.”

To observe the centennial of the landmark discovery of superconductivity and magnetism, Dr. Thomas Gredig and Dr. Andreas Bill (Physics and Astronomy) co-organized a workshop on “Trends on Nanoscale Superconductivity and Magnetism” in Colombia. The proceedings of the workshop appeared in the October issue of the Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism.